Onchain, Honestly!

Kaisa & Alenka
  • 4.0 (1)
  • Entrepreneurship

Onchain, Honestly is a conversation with the operators actually building crypto companies. Kaisa and Alenka sit down with founders and leaders to talk about what the pitch decks leave out: go-to-market, hiring, revenue, real traction, and the unglamorous mechanics of turning a protocol or product into a business. No hype, no theater. Just honest conversations about what works, what doesn't, and what it actually takes to build onchain.

  1. Oct 13

    Onchain, Honestly! Ep. 20 ft. Centrifuge - When Legal Becomes Product Strategy

    What happens when the legal team helps design the product instead of just signing it off? In this episode of Onchain, Honestly!, Kaisa and Alenka speak with Eli Cohen, Chief Legal Officer at Centrifuge, about the operational realities of building onchain. Eli explains why legal sits at the table from day one in crypto, how much of today’s "regulatory uncertainty" is real, and why some products, like a US version of Centrifuge’s deRWA token, get shelved once the compliance costs are counted. We also discuss who is actually buying tokenized funds, why so much of crypto is based in the Cayman Islands, and Centrifuge’s decision to turn its token holders into equity holders. —Eli Cohen: https://blockworks.co/author/eli-cohenCentrifuge: https://centrifuge.io/Centrifuge X: https://x.com/centrifugeAlea Research: https://alearesearch.io/Alea Research X: https://x.com/AleaResearchSpotify: Apple: Alenka X: https://x.com/alenka_on_xAlenka LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alena-shmalko/Kaisa X: https://x.com/kaisakaisa_Kaisa LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaisa-k-4aa212194/ —DISCLAIMER: This Content is Provided Solely for Informational and Educational Purposes. It does Not Constitute Financial, Investment, or Legal Advice. —CHAPTERS 00:00 Introduction and Eli’s two roles at Centrifuge and Anemoy03:17 When legal enables new products04:34 Legal uncertainty: real obstacle or excuse?08:55 Centrifuge’s plans for the US market10:58 Legal as part of building the product13:58 When compliance costs outweigh a product idea16:14 Fund rules and who actually buys tokenized funds19:51 White-label issuers and lessons from early pools21:26 Why crypto gathers in the Cayman Islands24:43 What makes tokenized fund structures hard to reuse30:22 From token holders to equity holders33:10 Lessons learned and what Centrifuge would do differently

  2. Oct 8

    Onchain, Honestly! ep. 19 ft. Paxos - The Business Decisions Behind a Global Stablecoin

    How much is regulatory predictability worth when you’ve already invested in building a business? In this episode of Onchain, Honestly!, we speak with Nick Gersh, Senior Regulatory Counsel at Paxos, about the practical work behind issuing stablecoins and choosing where to operate. Nick explains why he values Europe’s regulatory certainty despite his frustrations with MiCA. His account of issuing USDG across borders shows how much work sits behind a product that should feel the same to every holder. We also explore the business case for launching your own stablecoin and what happens when reserve requirements meet the realities of finding banking partners. —LinkedIn Nick Gersh: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nick-gersh/ Paxos: https://www.paxos.com/company Alea Research: https://alearesearch.io/ Alea Research X: https://x.com/AleaResearch Spotify: Apple:Alenka X: https://x.com/alenka_on_x Alenka LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alena-shmalko/ Kaisa X: https://x.com/kaisakaisa_ Kaisa LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaisa-k-4aa212194/ — DISCLAIMER: This Content is Provided Solely for Informational and Educational Purposes. It does Not Constitute Financial, Investment, or Legal Advice. CHAPTERS 00:00 Introduction and Europe’s changing crypto market  04:12 Issuing one stablecoin across borders  10:44 Compliance costs, competition, and partnerships  15:12 Tokenized gold and MiCA’s categories  18:31 Working with regulators in Europe  23:47 Reserve requirements and banking risk  28:25 Where the next wave of stablecoin growth could come from  31:24 Branded stablecoins and consortium models  33:55 Tokenized assets beyond stablecoins  38:37 Choosing where to build and the value of predictable rules

  3. Oct 1

    Onchain, Honestly! Ep. 18 ft. Tempo - How To Win In Institutional Adoption

    What makes stablecoins worth the investment for a bank? In this episode of Onchain, Honestly!, Kaisa and Alenka speak with Ninad Nirgudkar, who leads Tempo’s work with traditional financial institutions, about turning institutional interest in blockchain into products customers can use. We explore how Tempo helps institutions move from a business case to a live product, and what motivates banks to make that investment. Drawing on its previous work and feedback from financial institutions, Ninad explains how customer needs shape what Tempo builds and how the team thinks about measuring success. —Ninad Nirgudkar LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/ninadnirgudkar/  Ninad Nigurdar X: https://x.com/ninadnirgudkar Tempo: https://tempo.xyz/ Alea Research: https://alearesearch.io/ Alea Research X: https://x.com/AleaResearch Spotify: Apple:Alenka X: https://x.com/alenka_on_x Alenka LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alena-shmalko/ Kaisa X: https://x.com/kaisakaisa_ Kaisa LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaisa-k-4aa212194/  —DISCLAIMER: This Content is Provided Solely for Informational and Educational Purposes. It does Not Constitute Financial, Investment, or Legal Advice. —CHAPTERS 00:00 Introduction and Tempo’s approach to payments07:16 From a business case to a live product10:46 Tempo’s relationship with Stripe and Paradigm15:20 Where institutions see opportunities onchain19:00 Why banks are exploring stablecoins23:15 Deel’s payroll use case27:03 Bringing traditional finance and crypto expertise together29:17 Account controls and privacy34:37 Moving enterprise clients into production36:59 Measuring customer outcomes39:50 What’s next for Tempo?

  4. Sep 24

    Onchain, Honestly! Ep.17 ft. AVAT - DATs, Avalanche & Real Institutional Use Cases

    Can a digital asset treasury build value beyond the tokens it holds? In this episode of Onchain, Honestly!, Kaisa and Alenka speak with Laine Litman, COO of Avalanche Treasury Co. (AVAT), about AVAT’s strategy and the business case for institutional blockchain adoption. We discuss AVAT’s approach to holding and staking AVAX, its ambitions for broader involvement in the Avalanche ecosystem, and what institutions need to consider before choosing a blockchain. Drawing on examples from California’s DMV, Broadridge, and FIFA, Laine explores how blockchain fits into everyday operations and why early infrastructure choices can create costly migration work later. — Laine Litman LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laine-litman-ab143014/  Laine Litman X: https://x.com/Laine_Litman AVAT: https://www.avat.com/  Alea Research: https://alearesearch.io/  Alea Research X: https://x.com/AleaResearch  Spotify:  Apple: Alenka X: https://x.com/alenka_on_x  Alenka LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alena-shmalko/  Kaisa X: https://x.com/kaisakaisa_  Kaisa LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaisa-k-4aa212194/  — DISCLAIMER: This Content is Provided Solely for Informational and Educational Purposes. It does Not Constitute Financial, Investment, or Legal Advice. —CHAPTERS 00:00 Introduction and Laine’s background07:40 Digital asset treasuries and AVAT’s strategy13:11 Why Avalanche?15:02 Institutional adoption in practice18:58 Blockchain hype, migration costs, and changing attitudes24:38 Operational barriers to moving onchain29:12 How the blockchain landscape could evolve33:58 FIFA, ticketing, and consumer adoption

  5. Sep 11

    Onchain, Honestly! Ep.16 - What summer 2026 told us about the market: Onchain, Honestly! recap

    This episode of Onchain, Honestly! is a little different. We look back at summer 2026 and the developments that made institutional adoption more tangible. We explore the growing importance of viable operating models, the evolving US regulatory framework, and tokenization’s move from issuing assets to building the markets around them. From Tether’s first full financial statement audit and the unresolved CLARITY Act to banks entering stablecoins and new infrastructure for tokenized securities and liquidity, the market is entering a more practical phase. The question is no longer simply whether assets can move onchain, but whether they can trade, settle and be used there at scale.—Alea Research: https://alearesearch.io/reports Alea Research X: https://x.com/AleaResearch Spotify: Apple:Alenka X: https://x.com/alenka_on_x Alenka LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alena-shmalko/ Kaisa X: https://x.com/kaisakaisa_ Kaisa LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaisa-k-4aa212194/ —DISCLAIMER: This Content is Provided Solely for Informational and Educational Purposes. It does Not Constitute Financial, Investment, or Legal Advice.

  6. Aug 27

    Onchain, Honestly! Ep.15 ft. Matthew Snider - What Still Creates an Edge in Digital Asset Investing?

    AI can analyze market data, test strategies, and produce investment analysis at a speed once available only to larger teams. As these capabilities become widely accessible, what still creates an edge for an asset manager? In this episode we speak with Matthew Snider, CEO and co-founder of Block3 Strategy Group, about how AI is changing investment analysis and what that could mean for asset managers, advisors, and their clients. We discuss how digital-asset investing is moving toward revenue and fundamental analysis, why tokenization alone does not create value or liquidity, and how AI could affect both public-market competition and the discovery of private-market opportunities. The conversation also covers institutional custody, portfolio construction, client suitability, and what happens to the asset-management business as more analysis and operational work becomes automated. —Matthew Snider LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewsniderj/ Matthew Snider X: https://x.com/bit_finance_ Block3 Strategy Group: Alea Research: https://www.block3strategy.io/ Alea Research X: https://x.com/AleaResearch Spotify: Apple:Alenka X: https://x.com/alenka_on_x Alenka LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alena-shmalko/ Kaisa X: https://x.com/kaisakaisa_ Kaisa LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaisa-k-4aa212194/ — DISCLAIMER: This Content is Provided Solely for Informational and Educational Purposes. It does Not Constitute Financial, Investment, or Legal Advice. CHAPTERS 00:00 Introduction01:10 Who is Matthew Snider?02:25 How digital-asset investing is changing06:34 What qualifies as a digital asset?08:47 How institutions access digital assets13:46 Why the investment type comes before the token15:39 How AI is being used in asset management18:48 What's the moat for asset managers21:23 How AI could affect private markets26:23 Building digital-asset portfolios for clients33:59 What happens to the asset manager’s role?

  7. Aug 13

    Onchain, Honestly! Ep.14 ft. Pareto Credit & M11 Credit - How Blockchain Upgrades Private Credit

    Putting private credit onchain can shorten settlement and reduce servicing overhead. It does not remove the need for underwriting, legal protections, monitoring, or a plan for defaults. In this episode we speak with Matteo Pandolfi, co-founder and CEO of Pareto Credit, and Thibault Labidi, Director of M11 Credit, about what changes when institutional credit moves onchain. They explain how Pareto turns traditional credit agreements into programmable credit infrastructure, while M11 Credit originates, structures, underwrites, and monitors the underlying deals. The conversation follows the full process from borrower selection and legal structuring to administration, distribution, capital efficiency, and default management. We cover: • Why Pareto moved from Idle Finance’s yield-optimization model into private credit.• How same-day drawdowns and repayments compare with T+2 settlement.• Where 50–100 basis points of servicing overhead may be removed.• How lenders can use an onchain credit position as collateral without exiting the underlying exposure.• How Pareto and M11 Credit divide responsibility for infrastructure, underwriting, monitoring, and distribution.• What sits behind FalconX’s $170 million Credit Vault.• Why onchain credit will continue to depend on offchain businesses and legal structures.• How the market should prepare for defaults as it scales. —Matteo Pandolfi LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pandolfimatteo/ Matteo Pandolfi X: https://x.com/pan_teo_ Pareto: https://pareto.credit/ Thibault Labidi LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thibault-labidi/ Thibault Labidi X: https://x.com/Bablidi_Thib M11: https://maven11.com/ Alea Research:  https://alearesearch.io/ Alea Research X: https://x.com/AleaResearch Spotify: Apple:Alenka X: https://x.com/alenka_on_x Alenka LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alena-shmalko/ Kaisa X: https://x.com/kaisakaisa_ Kaisa LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaisa-k-4aa212194/ —DISCLAIMER: This Content is Provided Solely for Informational and Educational Purposes. It does Not Constitute Financial, Investment, or Legal Advice.

  8. Aug 4

    Onchain, Honestly! Ep.13 ft. David Newns - From Pilots to Onchain Adoption

    In this episode, David Newns, Director of Axiology, Founder of Substrate Advisory, and ex-CEO of SIX Digital Exchange, discusses what institutional adoption of blockchain actually requires and why the technology itself is rarely the hardest part. We cover how blockchain infrastructure must connect with the systems, licences, and legal frameworks institutions already use, why collateral mobility is emerging as one of the strongest use cases, and where decentralization offers real value without removing accountability. We also discuss the role of regulation in accelerating adoption, the importance of executive sponsorship and interoperability, why traditional and blockchain rails will coexist for years, and what initiatives from SDX, DTCC, JPMorgan, and Standard Chartered reveal about the future of institutional finance.— David Newns LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidnewns/  David Newns X - (19) David Newns (@DavidNewns2) / X  Alea Research:  https://alearesearch.io/  Alea Research X: https://x.com/AleaResearch  Spotify:  Apple: Alenka X: https://x.com/alenka_on_x  Alenka LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alena-shmalko/  Kaisa X: https://x.com/kaisakaisa_  Kaisa LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaisa-k-4aa212194/  — DISCLAIMER: This Content is Provided Solely for Informational and Educational Purposes. It does Not Constitute Financial, Investment, or Legal Advice.

See All (21)

About

Onchain, Honestly is a conversation with the operators actually building crypto companies. Kaisa and Alenka sit down with founders and leaders to talk about what the pitch decks leave out: go-to-market, hiring, revenue, real traction, and the unglamorous mechanics of turning a protocol or product into a business. No hype, no theater. Just honest conversations about what works, what doesn't, and what it actually takes to build onchain.

Information

  • Creator
    Kaisa & Alenka
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    21
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Alea Research Group
  • Show Website
    Onchain, Honestly!

You Might Also Like